My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Results tagged ‘ All-Stars ’

For the first time in fourteen years, the National League All-Stars defeated the American League All-Stars, securing home field advantage during the World Series (I personally think that is a really rotten idea), 3-1.

Thanks in part to the shadows around home plate, as well as some good pitching and defense by both squads, the game remains a 0-0 tie until the bottom of the fifth, when the American League took a 1-0 lead as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees hits a sacrifice fly, scoring from third base Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, who had earlier walked, and had reached third on Los Angeles Dodgers Hong-Chih Kuo’s throwing error to first on a grounder hit to the third-base side of the mound by Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins, who would end up on second on the play. The National League would take the lead in the seventh as, with the bases loaded via singles by Scott Rolen of the Cincinnati Reds and Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals, sending Rolen to third base, and a walk to Marlon Byrd of the Chicago Cubs, and with two men out, Brain McCann of the Atlanta Braves hits a bases clearing double, scoring Rolen, Holliday and Byrd, giving the National League a 3-1 lead. The National League would hold on to win as Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers, after giving up a lead-off single to David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, struck out swinging Adrian Beltre of the Red Sox for out number one, then on a spectacular play by right fielder Byrd, who threw out Ortiz at second, 9-6 on a ball hit into right field by John Buck of the Toronto Blue Jays, turning a base hit into a force out for the inning’s second out, leaving Buck at first base, and then ended the game by getting Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers to fly out to center on one pitch.

Brian McCann of the Braves was named the All-Star Game MVP because of his three-run double, giving the NL all of their runs.

Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies pitched two scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk, while striking out a batter. Josh Johnson of the Florida Marlons also pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two batters. Hong-Chih Huo pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up an unearned run on a hit and a walk. Heath Bell of the San Diego Padres pitched a third of an inning, getting out the only man that he would face. Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up two hits, while striking out a batter. Matt Capps of the Washington Nationals would get the win as he pitched a third of an inning, striking out the only batter that he would face. His All-Star Game record is now 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA. Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals collected his first hold as he pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk, while striking out two. Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants also collected his first hold, as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Jonathan Broxton receives his first All-Star Game save as he pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out a batter. David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays pitched two scoreless innings, giving up a hit, while striking out a batter. Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out two. Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers (nee Seattle Mariners) pitched 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits, while striking out two. Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox received a hold as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Phil Hughes, also of the Yankees, also received a hold before taking the lost as he pitched a third of an inning, giving up two runs on two hits. His All-Star Game record is now 0-1 with a 54.00 ERA. Matt Thornton of the Chicago White Sox committed his first All-Star Game blown save as he pitched a third of an inning, giving up a run on one hit and a walk. Andrew Bailey of the Oakland A’s pitched a third of an inning, giving up a walk, while striking out one. Rafael Soriano, also of the Rays, pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Jose Valverde, also of the Tigers, also pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side.

The winning National League team had seven hits in the game, with David Wright of the New York Mets leading with two hits, both singles. Scott Rolen of the Reds, Matt Holliday of the Cardinals, Andre Ethier of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yadier Molina, also of the Cardinals, and Brian McCann of the Braves, had the other five NL hits, with Rolen, Holliday, Ethier and Molina’s hits being singles, and McCann’s hit being a three-run double. The American League team had six hits in the game, with Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, David Ortiz of the Red Sox, Evan Longoria of the Rays and John Buck of the Blue Jays each having a hit, with Jeter, Cabrera, Hamilton and Ortiz hits being singles, while Longoria and Buck’s hits were doubles. The American League’s run came in on a Robinson Cano of the Yankees sacrifice fly. Ryan Howard, who represented the Phils, along with Halladay, went 0 for 2, with a strikeout.

With the win, the National League ends a thirteen-game losing streak, having not won the summer classic since 1996, where it was played in Philadelphia at the now demolished Veterans Stadium (0-12-1). With the win, the National League winner will host the World Series first for the first time since 2002.

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